Introducing myself and my journal: The Struggle to Eliminate Female Genital Mutilation(FGM) in Liberia

About Me:
The Liberian civil war was not just a news for me. I heard, saw and experienced it
personally. After seven (7) hours of real torture to confess that I was sent as a spy by the Samuel K. Doe-led government to the rebel controlled areas, I was scripted nakedto be killed by the rebel fighters while crossing the Cestor River to the neighboring Ivory Coast as a refugee child. I survived by the mercy of the rebel soldier who was commanded to kill me in their coffee farm called \"America\", a regular killing spot. While in the Ivory Coast as a refugee child attending the ADRA-UNHCR Front Line Education School System, I suffered lots of exploitations & discrimination at the hands
of school administrations, one of which was my denial to benefit the UN-sponsored scholarship to France as the first female Valedictorian for the Educational Region region during 1999/2000 school year, with no one speaking out on my plight. My own situation gave me the motivation to advocate for the silent female masses.
Besides, my mother delivered 14 live children(11 girls and 3 boys). Three of my junior sisters died while going through the Sande Society Bush-FGM procedures and my senior sister who is now 47 is now a barren because of the consequences of FGM.
My current involvement in the advocacy endeavors is designed in getting the women and girls themselves involved through a structure called \"Girls Forum\", which brings at risk girls from public and private schools together in an open discussion series, where the adverse consequences are discussed in addition the their human rights abuses

My Passions:
To advocate for the elimination of female genital mutilation in Liberia

My Challenges:
The sensitivity of the FGM issues in Liberia, limited resources to engage state power, lack of national policies or laws that forbid the practice of fgm in Liberia

My Vision for the Future:
All women and girls, especially those in the rural areas, should be given the opportunity to make informed choices about the practice of fgm and other traditions in Liberia

My Areas of Expertise:
Community mobilization, advocacy, training and women reproductive and sexual health management